Book, etc.

Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 15:49:05 -0400
Subject: Re: Book, etc.
From: Susan
To: Brandon

Hey Brandon,

My first response to this email was a bit snippy—sorry.

For example, when water freezes, it goes from a more disordered liquid state to a less disordered solid one; however, at the same time, the heat energy lost by the water is gained by its surroundings, so total entropy does not change.  In the process of Darwinian evolution, each time a mutation occurs that makes DNA in an organism more ordered, there would have to be a corresponding increase in entropy in the organism's surroundings so that the total entropy still increases or remains the same.

Okay, so how does this help your position?  One thing I'm having trouble with here has to do with mutations.  Most observed mutations are harmful and would move the genome to greater disorder (greater entropy); even so called 'neutral' mutations move the genome to disorder to a slight degree, as they disrupt the normal pattern. This fits the SLT, which states that entropy in the universe always increases or remains the same.  Darwinian evolution requires 'good' mutations to bring increasing order/complexity, the exact opposite  of what normally occurs.  Because of this decreasing entropy occurring in the process of Darwinian evolution, there has to be some consistent mechanism occurring at each step of Darwinian evolution for the total entropy to stay balanced out according to the SLT.

How does an organism distinguish between 'good' mutations (that bring increased order/complexity) and 'bad' ones?  A corresponding increase in surrounding entropy has to accompany the 'good' ones (to result in equal or increasing total entropy according to SLT), but not the 'bad' ones, which naturally result in increased entropy.  What is the mechanism by which an organism's genetic entropy decreases (becomes more ordered) with a corresponding increase in entropy in the organism's surroundings?

Help me think through this.  Here's a very rough analogy based on the water example:

DNA (ice) + 'bad' mutation (heat) = more disordered DNA (water)

DNA (ice) + 'good' mutation (heat) = more ordered DNA (still ice? A bigger chunk of ice?)  + ??? (where does the heat go?)

In each equation, a mutation is being added to previously existing DNA.  In the first, the mutation results in greater disorder, while in the second, it results in greater order.

Susan